Nerijus who goes by the nickname Nerka has represented the Lithuanian National Team and joins Chennaiyin FC from the Israeli club Hapoel Tel Aviv.

The forward has been a bit of a journeyman over the years and football has taken him to Belarus, Latvia, Romania, Poland, Israel and Thailand.

The 31-year-old was part of the youth team at the now dissolved Lithuanian club Polonia Vilnius in 2004. Nerka went on to feature prominently for Lithuanian clubs FK Šilutė, Sūduva, FK Riteriai/Trakai and Israeli club Bnei Yehuda Tel Aviv FC. He has an impressive record in the A Lyga, the Lithuanian top tier, with 58 goals and 19 assists coming in 128 appearances.

Last season, Nerka was with Hapoel Tel Aviv for whom he managed one goal in 10 appearances in the Israeli Premier League.

I am very happy to join Chennaiyin FC, a club that has won the Indian Super League twice.

I am excited to take up this new challenge in a new country and I can’t wait to help Chennaiyin achieve success again.

I have had some great conversations with the Head Coach (John Gregory) and I look forward to working with him and more importantly learning from him and improving.

I hope to contribute to the team by not just scoring goals but by working hard with my teammates and winning games and hopefully titles.

Nerijus Valskis

Nerka possesses goalscoring prowess and a proven hunger to attack the opposition.

I have followed him closely, especially during his time in Israel, and he is someone with the potential to light up our forward line with his link-up play, mobility and natural talent.

It will be our constant endeavour to bounce back to the heights this club is used to, and I am positive Nerka’s arrival will contribute richly in fulfilling that objective.